Shoe-fastener



Patented May 9, I899.

G. S. WEBBER.

SHOE FA-STENER. (Apphcahon filed Dec. 23, 189B (No Model.)

THE scams zrzns ca. PNDTOAJTNQ, WASNYNGTQM u. c.

NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE S. WVEBBER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

SHOE -FASTENER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 624,587, dated May 9,1899.

Application filed December 23, 1898. Serial No. 700,181. N model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE S. WEBBER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Shoe-Fasteners, of which thefollowing is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in the construction of fasteningswherein the separable edges of the article to be closed or clamped bythe fastening are provided with longitudinally-extendin g engagingshoulders or sockets forming a guide or run way for a sliding clasp, andwhile my improvement is intended for use more especially inshoe-fastenings it may be employed in other connections, as fasteningsfor gloves or other articles, wherever its use may be found desirable.

My object is to provide guides or engaging shoulders each formed of acontinuous length of wire bent to afford attaching means at more or lessclose intervals and practically smooth and continuous guiding andengaging edges, whereby the guides or engaging shoulders are renderedstrong, durable, and easy to apply, as well as flexible, and thereforecomfortable to the wearer of the shoe or other article to which they areapplied.

In the drawings,Figure 1 is a perspective view of a shoe provided withmy improvement; Fig. 2, an enlarged broken perspective View of myimproved bent-wire guide in its preferred form as used in connectionwith the upper of a shoe, the attaching portions being unclenched; Fig.3, a similar view with the attaching portions bent to their clenchedform; Fig. 4., an exaggerated section on line 4. of Fig. 1, the slidebeing drawn up to the closing position; and Figs. 5 and 6, viewscorresponding to Figs. 3 and i, but of a modification of theconstruction.

A A are fastening members attached to the outer surface of the upper Bof the shoe, on opposite sides of a slit t therein, and preferablyparallel with the edges of theslit. Said members A are each formedof acontinuous length of small-gage metal wire bent to afford free elevatedprojecting portions 8, affording practically continuous shoulders, whichserve to engage a companion fastening member on the slide, curveddouble-wire shank portions s,which serve to support said shoulders abovethe surface to which the fasteners are applied, and attaching means 5 atthe bases of the shanks serving to secure the fastening members to thepart to which they are applied.

In Figs. 1 to inclusive, the attaching means 5 are extensions of theshanks s, bent upon themselves to afford a portion 5 which rests uponthe outer surface of the upper, and portions 8 which are passed throughperforations in the upper and clenched on the under side.

takes the form of eyes, which are practically incurved extensions of theshanks s, expanded to receive the attaching-thread r.

The portions 8 shanks s, and shoulders 3 form a substantially continuoussocket-piece. The members are fastened to the shoe-upper preferably byinserting the parts 3 through perforations arranged parallel with theedges of the slit and clenching them. V

C is a slide which may be of leather, soft rubber, or other flexiblematerial. Guidepieces A like those described are fastened to the underside of the slide at the side margins. In the drawings the guides A areshown as fastened by clenching,the portions 8 being left exposed forgreater clearness. In practice the guides may either be applied in thismanner and entirely concealed bya covering of thin material applied tothe outer surface.

of the slide or the form of fastening shown in Fig. 6 may be adopted forthe slide. The guide-pieces upon the shoe-upper are so fastened that thesockets which they afiord face outward, while the guide-pieces which arefastened to the slide are so placed that the shoulders which they affordface toward each other.

In Figs. 5 and 6 the attaching means 8 In use the slide is drawn down tothe position shown in Figs. 1 and 2, permitting the shoe-upper to beopened at the slit and the 4 foot to be inserted into the shoe. The shoeis fastened by drawing the slide upward, cans ing the guides A on'theslide which fit into the guides on the shoe-upper, as shown in Fig. 4,to draw the meeting edges of the upper toward each other. Any suitablemeans may ets r.

IOO

the movement of the slide, such as a loop at, applied to the upper, andshoulderspp on the slide for engaging the loop.

The gist of my invention lies in the construction of the guides AA, andany suitable means may be employed to fasten the slide when it is drawnup and to prevent the slide from being pulled out when it is drawn down.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a fastening for shoes, or the like, the combination With aguide-equipped slide, of guides upon the shoe, or the like, comprising asingle continuous length of flexible Wire bent to form the practicallycontinuous projecting guide edges 3, the suppo1ting shanks s, andextensions of said shanks resting on the outer surface of the shoe, orthe like, and means for securing the extensions, substantially asdescribed.

2. In a fastening for shoes, or the like, the combination with aguide-equipped slide, of guides upon the shoe, or the like, comprising asingle continuous length of flexible wire bent to form the practicallycontinuous projecting guide edges 8, the supporting-shanks s, andattaching means comprising extensions of said shanks bent to afford theportions 8 resting on the outer surface and the portions .9 insertedthrough perforations and clenched, substantially as described.

GEORGE S. XVEBBER. In presence of R. T. SPENCER, D. V. LEE.

